Welcome to the Home Page of the North American Grip Sport Organization

North American Grip Sport Organization

Mission Statement

The purpose of the North American Grip Sport Organization is to deliver the necessary information about the sport to the athletes, promoters, and fans in order to increase the enjoyment of all involved.

General Rules

Chalk is the only Gripping aid that is permitted during competition. If a clean hand is preferred for an event, the athlete must wash his or her hands with water. Spitting on the hand is unacceptable.

Hook Grip is not permitted in Grip Sport events.

Lifting Straps are not permitted in Grip Sport events. In some cases, Wrist Wraps may be permitted, and will be listed in the specific rules of each event. Elbow Sleeves and Tendon Wraps are generally permitted as support devices for injuries and preventive measures against injuries. Referee's judgment will be used for support devices that seem questionable.

Extra Attempts for record-breaking lifts are not recognized within NAGS. Although fourth attempts are permitted in Powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting, most Grip events already permit a fourth attempt and so the athlete should prepare his or her attempts accordingly. The promoter may, of course, allow extra attempts to take place if they are willing to allow this time to be taken before moving on, but should the lifts be completed to the legal requirements, they will not be recognized for Rankings or for Records.

Judging Cadence for attempts will begin by a call from the judge and will end with a call from the judge. If an athlete makes an attempt before the judge makes the call for the attempt, the athlete will have to take the attempt again.

Judge Selection: In order to avoid possible conflicts of interests judges should be neutral to the competitor lifting. For example, significant others and relatives should not judge one another if it can be avoided at all.

Scoring System

The scoring system used in US Grip sanctioned contests is percentage based scoring. The best performance in the event is awarded 100 points. All other lifters’ performances are divided by the best performance and then multiplied by 100 for their score.

For example if Lifter A lifts 350 lbs and this is the best lift in his/her division, he gets 100 points for his lift. If Lifter B lifts 320 lbs, his score is figured like so: 100 X 320/350 = 91.428.

Standings in each division are based upon the best performance in the division.